Serena claims she had to 'be herself' to win, Gulbis sends his regards to Tsonga, Svitolina breaks hoodoo and some fancy footwork from Bedene.
Serena claims she had to "be herself" to win, Gulbis sends his regards to Tsonga, Svitolina breaks hoodoo, plus some fancy footwork from Bedene.
SUNDAY MORNING'S BIG STORIES 1 - 'I just wanted to be Serena out there' - Williams
![Serena Williams in action v Kristina Mladenovic]()
![Ernests Gulbis comforts Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who retires injured at the French Open]()
![Svitolina]()
Serena Williams praised her opponent Kristina Mladenovic, after outlasting her in a match that dragged on due to both tiebreakers and rain delay.
Serena Williams in action v Kristina Mladenovic - Reuters
Both players ceased for two and a half hours due to the conditions at Roland Garros, but returned with the world number one running out the 6-4 7-6 victor. Williams was forced to earn her victory after breezing through the early rounds, as Mladenovic pushed in both sets before Williams kicked up to her world-beating gear and took the match.
Williams wanted to win on her terms and found it challenging to overcome Mladenovic, who dictated large amounts of play during the two-hour-and-thirteen-minute bout on the big stage.
"I just made it a point to play my game", Williams said of the match deciding tie-break. "Up until that point I had not been playing my game. I was playing really defensive. It's not me. So I just wanted to be Serena out there.
"I think she played well. I feel like I made a tremendous amount of errors. But, you know, I feel like she kind of forced me to. She forced me to go for it."
2 - Gulbis - 'I feel very sorry for Jo'
Ernests Gulbis reached out to his injured opponent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, after he retired hurt with a knee problem. Gulbis expressed sympathies and condolences for the injured Frenchman, adamant that there were mixed emotions about how his entrance to the next round occurred.
Ernests Gulbis comforts Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who retires injured at the French Open - Reuters
"It is very strange. I feel very sorry for Jo. Here unfortunately we played just seven games. It's never nice to win like this, so I feel very sorry for him".
The 27-year-old Latvian conceded there was little to learn from the match itself, as it barely played out to Tsonga's retirement.
"I was just starting to get to feel the atmosphere of the centre court. I haven't been here for a couple of years.
"But overall, if we take that part away, then I'm satisfied the way I played and the way I hit the ball in practice and the first two rounds. The second round was especially good for my game and from my perspective."
3- Svitolina breaks Ivanovic curse
Elina Svitolina finally defeated Ana Ivanovic after never beating her in seven previous encounters 6-4 6-4. Svitolina was overjoyed with the win, putting the victory down to mental strength.
Svitolina - AFP
"I think it was a better mentality than other matches before, the other seven matches", Svitolina confessed afterwards.
"And the game, I was really confident today. I don't know. Just everything was right. Today I was doing the right things. Even missing bad shots, I was trying to stay positive and to play my tennis. I think it was working really well today, and I was happy that I could stay in such a high level against her, still having in my mind that I'm 0-7 down."
SHARING IS CARING - TODAY'S VIRAL GEMS
Real Madrid fan Aljaz Bedene may have mixed emotions after being knocked out by Djokovic, but he still got to show off his technique on court.
COMING UP ON SUNDAY
Court Philippe Chatrier from 10:00 GMT [Watch LIVE]
Svetlana Kuznetsova (13) will clash with Garbine Muguruza (4) and Kei Nishikori (5) is set to take on Richard Gasquet (9) in the two high-seeded highlight matches today. Others on the court include Viktor Troicki (22) up against Stan Wawrinka (3) and Simona Halep (6) drawn against Samantha Stosur (21).
Court Suzanne Lenglen from 10:00 GMT [Watch LIVE]
John Isner (15) will be out to stop Andy Murray's (2) improving form. A range of other interesting match-ups include: Tsvetana Pironkova vs. Agnieszka Radwanska (2), Irnia-Camelia Begu (25) v Shelby Rodgers and Milos Raonic (8) v Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
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